20 Great Adventures Every Canadian Must Try

Posted by Brent Furdyk on October 17, 2017

Regardless of the season, there's nothing better than exploring Canada's great outdoors. If your idea of a vacation involves action, adventure and spectacular vistas, then you won't do better than these 20 terrific adventure trips from coast to coast.

Mountain biking in Quebec

While B.C. may brag about being a mountain-biker's paradise, Quebec offers 100 miles of choice cross-country trails at Mont-Sainte-Anne, a bike-friendly ski resort located just 45 minutes from Quebec City.

Watch icebergs in Newfoundland

Newfoundland remains one of the world's premiere locales for spotting icebergs. You can watch from land, set out on a sea kayak or check out the numerous adventure tours out of St. John's focused on getting up close and personal with these 10,000-year-old ice chunks that have broken off of glaciers and floated away. The size of these bergs can be enormous — especially when you consider that 90 per cent of the iceberg is actually beneath the ocean's surface.

Canoe Ontario's Missinaibi River

Ontario's Missinaibi River offers a picturesque 350-mile canoeing route, with 50 sets of moderate rapids along the way. A centuries-old trade route between Lake Superior and James Bay, the Missinaibi River offers the chance to recreate history by retracing this famed route. For those adventurous enough to tackle the entire route, expect the trip to take 20 days.

Storm watching on BC's Vancouver Island

Storm-watching has become a big wintertime activity on Vancouver Island's rugged west coast, what with the gale-force winds and giant waves crashing onto the rocks. In fact, the famed Wickaninnish Inn even offers special storm-watching packages.

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Raft the tidal bore on Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie River

The Bay of Fundy has the world’s highest tides, which rise up to 15 metres each day, a phenomenon in which these extreme tides create an effect not unlike a tidal wave at the mouth of the Shubenacadie River. This has led to tidal-bore rating adventures, with gas-powered rafts hitting the waves in extreme style. Depending on the phase of the moon, trips can range from mild to wild — and you will get wet.

Follow polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill, Manitoba, is smack-dab in the middle of the polar bear migration route. You can take polar bear-spotting trips in special snow-buggies or, for the more adventurous, stay in a transportable "tundra lodge" in hopes of glimpsing them up close and personal. Prime viewing times are in October and November, when the bears begin their trek from their summer habitat on the tundra back to the ice pack that forms each winter on Hudson Bay, AKA prime seal-hunting territory. Tour groups set out in specially designed "tundra buggies" to cover rugged, icy terrain — what, you think polar bears use sidewalks?

Edgewalk at Toronto's CN Tower

If you're looking for a high-altitude experience like no other, then Toronto's CN Tower has the solution with its famed Edgewalk. While harnessed with safety cables, you'll literally walk the edge of the tower, and even hang off its edge, nearly 1,200 feet above the streets of Toronto.

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Watch the Northern Lights in Yellowknife

There is truly no experience like witnessing the spectacle of the Aurora Borealis in person, and there are numerous ways to see "nature's greatest light show", ranging from outfitters' multi-day camping packages to lodges that offer day trips.

Kayak BC's Clayoquot Sound

Vancouver Island's Clayoquot Sound offers 236,000 square miles of ocean exploration (it's one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's favourite things to do whenever he gets to the West Coast). Companies such as Tofino Sea Kayaking can get you all set up.

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Moose safari in Quebec's Forêt Montmorency

One of the best places to get a close-up look at the majestic animal that graces Canadian quarters is Quebec's Forêt Montmorency, a stunning boreal forest located about 70 km outside Quebec City, where you can embark on a moose-watching "safari." The most exciting time for moose-watching is during rutting season (from September until mid-October), when male moose pull out all the stops to impress the ladies by displaying dominance with their antler-clashing antics. And don't be surprised if you also encounter the occasional timber wolf, porcupine, black bear, beaver or otter along the way.

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Ice-climbing tower at Big White Ski Resort in British Columbia

While BC's Big White Ski Resort is known for its powdery slopes, one of the highlights for outdoor adventurers is ascending the 60-foot ice-climbing tower, featuring different climbing options for beginners, experts and all skill levels in between.

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Explore Nova Scotia's Cabot Trail

When in Nova Scotia, do yourself and favour and take a road trip on the picturesque Cabot Trail, boasting rocky coastlines, dramatic waterfalls, gorgeous bays and beaches and more. A 300-km loop around Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton is a must, with plenty of hiking opportunities along the way, including the Franey loop, which takes two to three hours to traverse.

Surf in Tofino, BC

Located on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, Tofino is home to some of the world's sweetest waves, which has attracted surfers from all over the world. For the novice, a great way to experience surfing in Tofino is to enlist in a surf camp, which features accommodation, lessons, massages and even a post-surf video assessment of how well you caught those waves. With water that's about 10 degrees C year-round, you'll want to wear a wetsuit, with winter bringing the biggest, wildest waves.

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Puffin watching in Newfoundland

The adorable puffin is the symbol of Newfoundland, and millions of these colourfully beaked seabirds return to Gull Island — just off the coast of St. John's — to breed each spring. There are numerous tours focusing on puffin-watching, and it's an experience unlike no other to observe these amazing animals, puffins.

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Walk the ocean floor at Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick

During low tide each day, the water flows out to allow you to walk on the sea floor and explore 2 km of coves and check out the stunning tree-topped sandstone rock formations, carved out by erosion over thousands of years.

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Dog sledding In Whistler, BC

Whistler isn't just home to one of the world's premiere ski resorts; Canada's winter wonderland also offers the chance to experience what it's like to travel through the snowy wilderness via dogsled like an 18th-century fur trapper.

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Trail riding in the Alberta Rockies

Whether you're an experienced equestrian or a novice, there are an array of ways to experience the majesty of the Canadian Rockies via horseback riding, so there's no reason not to saddle up and hit the trail!